If you haven't read part 1 yet here's a link! Part 1 covers Tokyo & Nikko. In this part I'll cover Kyoto (kimono rental), Osaka, and Hakone.
Jump to...
🗼Tokyo🍂Nikko
⛩Kyoto
- 👘Kimono Rental
🍢Osaka
♨️Hakone
My Japan Trip Overview
(same as in part 1) Jump to Kyoto.
October 2018
Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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24
LA -> Tokyo
flying
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25
Tokyo -> Seoul
@ Alex’s
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26
@ Alex’s
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27
@ Alex’s
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28
Seoul -> Nikko
@ Shirakawa Yunokura
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29
@ Nanaeyae
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30
Nikko -> Tokyo
@ Moxy
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31
@ Moxy
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1
@ Moxy
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2
@ Moxy
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3
Tokyo -> Kyoto
@ Airbnb
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4
@ Airbnb
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5
Kyoto -> Osaka
@ Red Roof
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6
Osaka -> Hakone
@ Hakone Ginyu
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7
Hakone -> LA
flying
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My Japan trip document
I usually write one for every trip that needs to be planned out 🤗 usually used to keep track of researched subjects and useful links & information. Detailed itinerary for what to do, eat and see, but used as a loose guide. The best thing to do while traveling is to be flexible! I found that best strategy while traveling is strong plans weakly held 😁anyways, see my plan here.
Custom Map
Here's an incomplete list of places I bookmarked during my research phase. Highly recommend starting a custom Google Map pre-trip to save your favorite places!
⛩Kyoto
I was so excited to visit Kyoto! The temples and various cultural sites are a must-visit in Japan and the food in Kyoto is very different from Tokyo (I feel at least). If you have time make sure to try kaiseki (we skipped since we’re getting at our ryokan), and traditional Kyoto cuisine!
General:
🍴Tagawa [traditional japanese] 🌚￥15,000～￥19,999
🍴Soujiki Nakahigashi [kyoto cusine] 🌝￥10,000～￥14,999 By appointment only 🍴Hayashi [kyoto cusine] 🌝￥8,000～￥9,999 Reservations Allowed 🍴Hyotei [kyoto cuisne] 🌝￥6,000～￥7,999 Reservations Allowed 🍴Kyoshumi Hisaiwa [bento box] 🌝￥6,000～￥7,999 By appointment only 🍴Sojiki Nakahigashi [japanese ⭐️⭐️] 🌝 ¥6,480-8,640 🍴Oryori Mitsuyasu [japanese ⭐️⭐️] 🌝¥5,400-10,800 🍴Ogawa [soba ⭐️] 🌝¥1,030-4,000 |
Since I don’t like raw fish (I know…), all traditional sushi / omakase places are out of the question. After much research, I made a reso at Orto (Japanese French gastronomy fusion ish type of cuisine). And the food was wonderful!
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| Orto Restaurant by ORTO / オルト on Facebook |
Some of the dishes served at Orto:
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It was a short stay (2 days) before we headed to Osaka for one day. I cannot wait to come back to Kyoto again 🥰there is so much more stuff I didn’t get to do!
👘Kimono Rental
The other popular and very highly anticipated activity (by me, not Dennis) is Kimono rental! The City of Kyoto highly encourages tourists to rent traditional kimonos to walk around the historic areas, it adds an authentic and ancient feel to the city. It’s the only place in Japan where you won’t feel out of place wearing Kimono (although people regularly do for formal occasions all throughout the county).Be prepared to dress for at least an hour and eat before you do so.
Because the process involves layers of towels and ropes wrapped tightly around your body to flatten a women’s figure. There are also layers of clothes from inside out, I rented in the fall but I cannot imagine wearing full Kimono in the summer 😳must be so hot and heavy (there are lighter options in the summer!). Once you’re all dressed you can barely move, cannot slouch (I had cardboard tied onto me), and cannot take big steps in the dress.
You ask if so unpleasant why do it!? Because it’s cool! And you wouldn’t have known how it feels until you give it a try 😁Although very restricting, it also made me feel very feminine and elegant LOL. As someone that loves clothes, I thought it was a fun experience.
The shop I used was Tekuteku, make sure you make appointments and have an idea of what you want or you’ll be paralyzed by all the choices. They’ll also do your hair for you since Kimono is usually worn with an updo. Other shops I considered are Walin, and First. Tons of options if you Google around!
⛩Osaka
This will not be your complete Osaka guide, we went for a day and both of us got food poisoned by the time we got there. So it wasn’t a super pleasant experience 😰(if you’re wondering from what, we think it’s the train’s bento box egg sandwich).Okay, with that said if you’re there for a quick day (like us) then Dotonbori is where you want to stay. Everything delicious is walking distance, there are also lots of arcades and shops. I have to recommend Round 1, we had a blast there LOL (rollerblade, mechanical bull, all you can play games, baseball, basketball, tennis, archery and more!)
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| Night light of Osaka! |
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| Round1 entertainment center opens late and so much fun! |
♨️Hakone
The last stop at the end of our journey is Hakone, famous for its natural hot springs and view of Fuji Mountain (parts of the city). After much research, I choose Hakone Ginyu (TripAdvisor). It’s a small lodge built on the side of a mountain with spectacular view year-round. The shared bath is beautiful but every room is equipped with a private bath as well for maximum privacy. It’s a traditional ryokan with breakfast and a kaiseki dinner served in your room. The place is very peaceful and we didn’t really see anyone else at the hotel during our stay (even tho fully occupied).Other than the bath and the food, the bathroom was also great 😜we’d know cause we spent a lot of time there…..
As most Ryokans in Japan, our stay includes dinner and breakfast.
Here are some of the food served at dinner:
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I knew I definitely wanted to end our trip with a ryokan. Another area I researched heavily is the Fujikawaguchiko-machi area since it has a spectacular view of Mount Fuji. I didn’t opt for this area because Fuji is often covered by cloud, and we’re only going for a night - I didn't believe in my luck to be able to see the mountain too much LOL. See the archive section to see the hotels I researched.
That’s it for my recap of our Japan trip. If you have any specific questions shoot me a DM on Instagram or leave a comment below! Happy to help any way I can 😀
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